in need of a spark find one in october? u.s. employers across nearly all sectors were hiring, for a net gain of 171,000 new jobs. the labor department also revised its august and september figures higher, by 84,000. all told, it signaled slow but steady growth, and it was news that president obama wanted to play up in the campaign's final weekend, especially in one critical state. >> "oh (io), oh (io)" >> brown: the president made three stops in the buckeye state, starting in hilliard, just outside columbus. >> in 2008, we were in the middle of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the great depression. and today, our businesses have created nearly five and a half million new jobs. and this morning, we learned that companies hired more workers in october than at any time in the last eight months. ( applause ) >> brown: and the trend line seemed promising, as well. since july, the economy has added an average of 173,000 jobs per month, up from just 67,000 a month in the spring. at the same time, though, the unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a point in october to 7.9% as more
